Space Marine 2 couldn’t have asked for a more fortuitous time to be released. We’re just coming off of the Helldivers 2 hype with players looking elsewhere for their co-op shooter fun. Meanwhile, Space Marine 2 comes out on September 9th, ready to swoop up the co-op action playerbase like a storm. Unlike Space Marine 1’s afterthought of a co-op mode, Space Marine 2 goes all out with its many co-op offerings. The main story campaign of Space Marine 2 can be played with two other partners in 3-player co-op, but there’s also a standalone mission-based co-op mode called ‘Operations’, featuring its own set of customizable characters. I’m calling it now; Operations mode is going to draw in hordes of Helldivers 2 fans (pun intended), and that’s partly due to Space Marine 2’s strong progression and build variety.
Space Marine 2 has six classes to select from, and each has separate leveling progressions. You can build each of the classes with cosmetics for armor and weapons, equipment upgrades, and a comprehensive perk tree. Each class has around three or so different weapon types, and from what we’ve seen in previews, there’s a good variety of weapons per type. But if you come across a weapon you don’t want to part with, there’s the tiered upgrade system that you allocate Mastery Points into to improve a weapon’s output. In addition to the Operations co-op mode, all of your class progression is accessible for the game’s 6v6 competitive multiplayer modes as well. The three 6v6 modes are called Annihilation, Seize Ground, and Capture and Control, and seem to be your basic horde and capture the flag type matches. We don’t know how many maps there are at launch, but Focus Entertainment has promised DLC and updates post-launch. All of the separate modes are accessible through the main hub called the Battle Barge, in which you can walk around admiring the atmosphere as you chat with players and customize your characters through the Armory.
The variety of weapon types, upgrade ranks, and perks in the co-op and 6v6 modes offer much in the way of progression and customization, leading us to believe players won’t be falling off of the game anytime soon. That being said, preview builds are plagued by connectivity problems with issues like long matchmaking queues and disconnections being pretty frequent. To make matters worse, Saber Interactive has just canceled a planned public beta, giving players cause to worry about its state at launch. Space Marine 2’s online multiplayer has the legs to become successful like Helldivers 2, but the online infrastructure needs work for it to avoid faceplanting at launch.
What really impresses me about Operations mode though is the amount of story interspersed throughout the mission-based structure. Even though the narrative is more disconnected and less substantial than the main campaign, you’re still engaging in plenty of character banter, set-piece moments, and lore. You’ll be finishing off some stray Tyranids to find a curious collectible object in the corner that plays back lore-heavy audio recordings. These audio recordings, called Dataslates, are scattered throughout missions and can be listened to at the Battle Barge hub at your leisure. The unique dialogue and cutscenes help keep these missions from feeling tacked on and ‘cheap’, making Operations mode feel like a substantial accompaniment to the main campaign. Don’t have a partner to play Operations mode with? Well, you can play all of these missions single-player with the help of AI companions. Hands-on previews mentioned how the AI bots do a decent job helping you out of a bind and following your movements with a decent pace, so it shouldn’t feel too co-op-dependent either.
Speaking of pace, man does this game go hard and fast. Space Marine 2’s combat has a quick and brutal tempo to it that encourages risk/reward. Doom fans in particular are going to appreciate the way health management works. You chainsaw-kill a pesky Tyranid flyer and regenerate your armor in return. Armor protects your health, and health is only replenished by picking up medkit drops scattered throughout the levels. You’re encouraged to be aggressive thanks to armor replenishing from execution attacks, just like in Doom Eternal. Enemies even flash briefly when injured, indicating that you’re able to do a stylish and gory execution attack to finish them off. These finisher animations are wonderfully brutal and flashy and I love how unapologetic they are about its Doom inspiration. By contrast, normal melee attacks feel weighty and even somewhat laborious. Every impact you make slows down the pace a little bit due to this artificial ‘oomph’ slow-mo effect that modern action games love implementing. Previews are hit or miss on the feel of melee in this game, but in some respects, combat is much more active and acrobatic than it was in Space Marine 1.
Parry lovers rejoice. Despite the deliberate weightiness of melee, there’s a heightened emphasis on timing and agility in Space Marine 2. Larger enemies have a telegraphed parry window as they attack, which is illuminated by a large flashing circle. Unlike Space Marine 1, you can’t get by simply hacking and slashing through these mobs; you must dodge or parry them to survive, making Space Marine 2 a bit more challenging. Some of the larger encounters feel like a choreographed sword fight rather than a heavy hack-and-slash move down, requiring you to pay attention to enemy attack patterns and treat them seriously.
This leaning toward timed parries and telegraphed dodges is sure to bring in fans of more methodical melee combat like Nioh. That said, Space Marine 2 still allows you to mow down hordes of enemies in classic 40K fashion. The smaller Tyranid Gaunt creatures can be killed by the dozens with ranged weapons. Spraying down waves of bugs has never been more fun thanks to the vastly improved targeting and gun physics from the last game. I like how different enemy types necessitate different gameplay approaches, from the slow and methodical melee required for Tyranid Warriors to the gunning down of the Tyranid Gaunt hordes. Space Marine 2 isn’t as repetitive as the first game, providing a more diversified challenge with melee parries, execution finishers, and a variety of guns to spray-n-pray with.
It can’t be emphasized enough how much this game will delight Warhammer 40K fans. From what we’ve seen of this game so far, it looks like there’s plenty of fanservice and consistent internal continuity throughout. On the customization side of things, there are loads of different armor sets and Astartes Chapters to unlock, all of them incredibly faithful to the source material. And then there’s the instantly recognizable Thunder Hawk ship sitting in the middle of the hub area. And it plays a central role too, being your mode of transport as you deploy from the Battle Barge hub to various campaign and Operations missions.
And of course, the main campaign continues the events of Space Marine 1, following the disgraced Captain Titus and his squad against the Tyranid fleet and forces of Chaos. Getting to roleplay as a giant mech-sized superhuman who mows down swarms of aliens is a delight in itself, but fans are especially eager to see Titus’ story continue after the 13-year hiatus.
The Warhammer universe has never looked better. The level of detail on every surface is admirable and the enemy designs have shown good variety so far. Environments are well laid out with weathered buildings and desecrated landmarks striking an ideal balance of realism and awe. The star of the show is the Swarm Engine, which allows 100s of enemies to render simultaneously on-screen as you carve through them. This swarm technology isn’t just relegated to enemies you fight either, as atmospheric elements such as a school of birds or rats are seen doing their own thing in the background. If previews are anything to go by, this is all being run at a consistent 60 fps. Just looking at the footage, the lack of frame drops or pop-in is impressive, especially during chaotic moments chainsawing enemy hordes.
Space Marine 2 has some of the highest production values that a Warhammer 40K piece of media has received. The over-the-top action has more spectacle and flair to it than ever before, while supplying more diverse gameplay and added challenge. We just hope the online infrastructure holds up at launch because Space Marine 2 harnesses the same ingredients that make games like Doom, Helldivers 2, and Dynasty Warriors so fun; all sprinkled with its own Warhammer sauce to give it that extra oomph.
Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.
